dembugsdo

I was out of the country and it wasn't possible to make trips back for interviews, so this was unrelated to scheduling conflicts. I had my Skype interviews on the same day as they did their in-person interviews. So, this wasn't done as a "Oh sorry, I'd rather go to this other place, but can we still video chat really quick?" sort of thing, there just wasn't any alternative since I couldn't travel.

Ah, another point I wanted to bring up, primarily for any future applicants who find themselves mining through this thread in manic attempts to get more information on the application process. Skype interviews: I'd say that you should try to avoid these as much as possible. I had to do Skype interviews for 2 schools and I thought that both went really well. Connected well with PIs, had fun talking about science, and most of them went over the allotted time. But, I've been wait listed at both places where I did them and I'm still in limbo with waiting to see where I end up with those. Maybe I didn't interview as well as I thought, but I still think it's worth noting given that my 3 in-person interviews worked out well. I think that actual visits for recruiting events are very valuable for both parties; you really get to get a feel for the people and the campus, while the admissions committee gets to scope you out more thoroughly than they can accomplish through 2 hours talking with a disembodied head on a computer screen. Just my 2 cents!

NYU Sackler acceptance via email! I applied with Microbiology as my primary interest. Really happy - so many labs doing cool stuff, awesome people, and my recruiting visit was veryyy very fun, haha. Sushi and karaoke and beers = hooray! Congratulations to everybody who's gotten acceptances, seriously, it's so wonderful to see people be happy with how things are shaping up after such a stressful application cycle. And people who weren't so successful, please see my previous posts about not losing faith and being persistent (this is my second time applying and I'm shocked by how well things have gone).

Berkeley MCB acceptance phone call today (interviewed earlier this week) and UW immuno acceptance a couple of days ago (interviewed last week). Dream programs! So excited! Exclamation points all around!

Rejection in the mail today from Stanford micro & immuno (I'm on the east coast). Glad to have heard back from everywhere officially. Now, to focus on not screwing up any interviews...

Got a Yale BBS (immunology) reject yesterday. Expected since it looked like they sent out most of their interview invites before the holidays. Just need to hear back from Stanford at this point, though I assume that's a rejection too since it looks like some micro/immuno invites went out earlier this week. Infinitely grateful for the interviews that I've got, and excited to start visiting these schools. Anybody reading this who's bummed out about lots of rejections and what may be shaping up to be an unsuccessful application cycle: I know it doesn't seem like it right now because of how much it hurts, but this is not the end of the world. I went through that last year, and when compared to my experience this time around it's like night and day. And if you get into 1 program this year that you don't think is a good fit, don't force it on yourself. Last year I only got into 1 place that I really didn't like after interviewing, but it still looked like an awfully tempting option once I found that nobody else wanted me. Looking back I'm so happy that I didn't accept that, since I think I would have been miserable there for the next 5-6 years. Taking another year or 2 off will help so much with your application profile, and it's likely that with more experience you'll get interviews at a dream school. In the grand scheme of things, another year of your life spent working really isn't that bad - OK, maybe you'll end up graduating when you're 30 instead of 29, but that's absolutely not worth going somewhere that you're not in love with. Don't settle for less than you deserve just because things didn't work out in your favor this round; the best things are worth waiting for, right?

Another victim of the UCSF death ray here. Gonna stay positive and focus on my existing interviews, though. I do appreciate them sending it out relatively early, rather than stringing hopeful people along for a while. Fingers crossed for everybody waiting for interview offers in the next couple of weeks!

Congratulations! Funny, the person who I received a phone call from for their interview invitation had a thick accent too. They told me that the 2 options were Feb. 2-4th, or Feb. 23-25th. I applied to the Immunology track, though I'm not sure if there are different interview dates within the MCB department. Other note: email invitation to Tufts molecular micro today (hooray for early crimmus presents). Now let's all swear to stay away from this cursed forum for the next 24 hours or so

I'm going to try to steer clear from this forum as much as possible in an attempt to maintain sanity this month. But, I wanted to post my profile in case people want to see an applicant with a low undergrad GPA and not a bunch of different research experiences. I applied to doctoral programs last year and got rejected from all but 1 master's program, so for people that don't have such a great application season, try to recognize that it's not necessarily the end of the world (hard, I know). Undergrad Institution: Top liberal arts college Major(s): Biology, Chemistry Minor(s): Biochemistry GPA in Major: 3.6 bio, 3.1 chem Overall GPA: 3.2 Position in Class: Positively stellar, clearly Type of Student: Domestic lady Master's Program: Environmental microbiology Master's GPA: (as of the first semester): 4.0 *Note: I sent unofficial transcripts for this semester to my programs once they were available in mid-December; some places said that they'd take them into consideration, but others said that my file was closed for review (including programs that still offered me interviews). GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 158 (72%) V: 164 (93%) W: 5.5 (97%) B: 790 (83%) Research Experience: 2.5 years as a tech in a micro/immuno lab at a top institution (1 2nd author publication, 1 third author publication in top tier journal, 1 middle author publication in top tier journal, several poster presentations); 6 months in environmental micro lab; 1 summer ecology internship in undergrad. All publications were just manuscripts in preparation at the time that I applied last year, so the fact that they're now published may be helpful. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 2 years of guaranteed predoctoral funding via external fellowship *Applicants of the future: Apply to these things!! With my grades and not a ton of research experience, I figured I had no chance in hell at getting anything like this. You really can't lose anything by applying, and with some luck it just might work out. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tech job, master's position Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Nope (unless you want to count playing a varsity sport during undergrad, which nobody cares about) Special Bonus Points: PI from my tech position knows a lot of people in the field; very strong recommendations Applying to Where: Interested in host-pathogen interactions (innate immunology and microbial pathogenesis) Stanford (micro & immuno) NYU Sackler (micro) Tufts Sackler (molecular micro) UCSF BMS (virology & microbial pathogenesis) UC Berkeley MCB (immuno & pathogenesis) Yale BBS (immuno) Cornell Weill (immuno & microbial pathogenesis) U of Washington (immuno) Got an interview offer at Berkeley yesterday afternoon via phone, and an interview offer from NYU this morning via email. Good luck to everyone else!! This is a soul-sucking process, especially the second time around, so just hang in there. Try your best to occupy yourselves in order to avoid checking these boards/your email obsessively. I recommend leaving your phone at home and going out to see friends for a few hours, or shutting the damn pocket computer off and re-watching all episodes of game of thrones on HBO-GO.